The Annaprashana also known as annaprashana vidhi,annaprasan or Anna-prasanam, is a Hindu rite of passage that marks an infant’s first intake of food other than milk. The term annaprashan literally means “food feeding” or “eating of food”. The ceremony is usually arranged in consultation with a priest, who arranges an auspicious date on which to conduct the ceremony.
Yes! You read it right I went all dairy free and sugar free for my sons Annaprashan.
Finally, the day arrived when I was to introduce solids to my 6 month old son. After joining a group on Facebook for Baby-led weaning I read a lot of the posts which always mentioned no milk, sugar, salt and honey for infants and I always thought that the first food that I will make for my child are definitely not going to have any of these things, not even in small quantity.
So, I called up the vaadyar (priest) of Tamil temple for an auspicious date, time and things for us to bring. He asked us to make payasam (Kheer) for the little one and bring it to temple. As, I already had in my mind that I won’t be using regular milk and sugar for the food that we going to prepare. I made the kheer using dates and coconut milk yes and that’s how I went dairy and sugar free.
Below is the recipe for the Dairy free and sugar free Kheer
Ingredients:
- Dates – 15-20 (pitted)
- Rice – Pre-cooked ½ cup
- Coconut milk – 3 cups
- Cardamom powder – ½ teaspoon
- Almond – ¼ cup
- Cinnamon powder – 2 tablespoon
- Ghee – 2 teaspoon
- Cashew nuts for garnishing
Method
- Soak almonds and dates overnight in water.
- Cook rice as usual with little extra water so that it’s softer.
- Grind almonds and dates with little water into a fine paste. You can use the water in which dates were soaked.
- Shallow fry cashew nuts until golden brown and set aside.
- In the same pan add almonds and dates paste and bring it boil stirring continuously.
- Then add pre-cooked rice to it. Let it boil for 2-3 mins and then add coconut milk to it.
- Add cardamom powder to it and boil for another 10 mins.
- Garnish with cashew nuts and serve chilled. Please serve at room temperature to baby.
- Sprinkle cinnamon powder just before serving.
This kheer can also be given to toddlers who are lactose intolerant. Also, people who are allergic to nuts should avoid almonds and cashew nuts. While making this kheer for elders you can add full fat cream and a 2 teaspoon condensed milk to enhance the flavours.
Come back soon to know how I make coconut milk. 🙂